The abandoned western and mining towns left the most impressive traces in the history of the American West.Ghost Towns – in a broader sense it means any form that is even remotely reminiscent of a settlement or a house and breathes history. None of the places is older than 150 years, none has been inhabited for more than 100 years. The pressure to change their place of residence, to leave house and yard and to start anew elsewhere was much greater than in Europe. Traditions and lifestyles, therefore, had a much shorter lifespan. The fate of these cities was closely linked to the economic success of the mines. When the mineral resources were exhausted, the place was abandoned and the people left: „Get out, happiness is elsewhere“.

"Berthold Steinhilber hasn't photographed Ghost Towns, instead he has revealed the spirit of these places..."

The photographs of the 19 Ghost Towns were taken for the book „Ghost Towns of the American West“ and during an assignment for Smithsonian Magazine in the western states California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico.

In my book the movie director Wim Wenders wrote a wonderful foreword which describes everything that I wanted to express with my photographs. I’m still thankful for his words. Here are some excerpt of this foreword:

„I’d like to know how many times I’ve undertaken a detour simply because a place was identified on the map as a ghost town. That designation, usually in parentheses, has a magical attraction for me, and not only for me, almost like a siren song.“

„Do things have some „essence“ and can give up their spirit? Aren’t they already „dead“? They don’t die the way people and animals do, they simply lose their usefulness and are cast aside or abandoned. Shadows of their former selves….“

„Berthold Steinhilber’s photographs are inspired and sustained by questions like these, but they don’t even remotely attempt to answer them. IN THAT SENSE THEY‘ RE HIGHLY UNROMANTIC. They become deeply involved in these ghost towns without evoking the ALL TOO OBVIOUS stories of the people who left everything behind there. Paradoxical as it may seem at first glance, these pictures focus not on the towns‘ past but wholly on their present existence. DO THEY EVEN HAVE ON?…“

„In this suspended time, this fairy-tale moment between yesterday and tomorrow, you see these ghost towns in a new light, no longer in connection with the people who once lived and worked here, were born and died here, but solely in their own desolation.“

„When these places were founded, the streets laid out, their houses, churches, and factories built, people had high hopes. They were making plans, dreaming dreams. None of that can be seen any longer.Instead, these buildings stand for themselves. They represent these places only as they are now and never were before. NEVER COULD BE…. Suddenly they have great dignity. They stand there gazing into the camera like very old people who have never before had their pictures taken, after a lifetime of work and sacrifices…“

„These places, these things, have forgotten us „people,“ left us behind. The self-satisfaction they now display, with no tinge of sadness, no longing – they’ve never been seen like this before…“

„Perhaps we have simply forgotten that patience can also be seen as a modern method. And that photography can still do everything it managed to do back then, that it can still capture places in a way they’ve never been captured before…“

„As an afterthought to these images, I am left with the feeling of having seen pictures from another planet, a little like those from the fabulous probe that landed on Mars and sent us images of a reality that exist wholly without human beings, so obviously and frighteningly independent of us…“

„Berthold Steinhilber hasn’t photographed ghost towns. Instead, he has revealed the spirits of these places. Places and objects are tenacious. We’re the ones who are convinced they could not exist without us. But they’re not so quick to surrender their spirit.“

The book was published in 2003 in a german, english and french edition with a wonderful foreword by Wim Wenders, a reportage by Mario Kaiser and an essay by Hans-Michael Koetzle about my photography.The book is now out of print but we still have a few copies left. You are very welcome to order a signed book and if you like, I can write a dedication to the book.

The photographs are available as prints in two versions.1. Print behind acrylic glass (glossy or matt) and mounted on 3 mm Dibond.2. High quality Baryte paper in a very nice white wooden shadow gap frame.

The standard side height of the print is either 60 cm, 90 cm or 120 cm with corresponding side length depending on the chosen photgraph. We already realized some special formats > 120 cm, just ask. Smaller formats to frame by yourself are also available.

A good description about the prints can be found on the print page here.The complete list, availability and price list can be requested below by email.